Chapter 5
"Takashi," Mitsukuni said quietly. He looked at his tall cousin, the sadness was evident in his eyes. "I should have told you from the beginning."
Takashi nodded showing he was listening. He couldn't look Mitsukuni in the eyes.
"She came to me," Mitsukuni started. "She asked for my help. She didn't mean any harm. After a while I could see the whole charade was putting a lot of pressure on you so I told her I couldn't keep quiet anymore. I asked her to out me in the next set of photographs. I'm assuming she kept her promise."
Takashi nodded again. He stared at the floor.
"I-I'm sorry, T-Takashi," Mitsukuni's eye were welling up with tears as he hugged his Usa-chan tighter. "I-I just wanted t-to help."
Takashi lifted his head and asked one question, "Who is she?"
Mitsukuni gasped, "I don't want to give her away. She would be so mad."
"I'm mad, Mitsukuni," Takashi said quietly.
"She really likes you. She has for a long time, but she was afraid you wouldn't remember her. I told her I would help because I thought, maybe she would be a good match for you."
Takashi furrowed his brow. He tightened his hold on his knees, "Why are you so worried, Mitsukuni?"
"I just want you to be happy," the blonde boy answered.
"Hmm," Takashi looked at the floor again.
"I have Reiko-chan, and she makes me so happy. I just wanted to help you find someone that would make you happy, too."
"You make me happy, Mitsukuni," Takashi answered. "I mean, I'm interested in women, but I don't know what to say."
Mitsukuni nodded. He got on his knees and sat across from his cousin. "I didn't want to hurt you, Takashi. I'm so sorry."
Takashi nodded.
"W-will you forgive me?"
Takashi nodded.
Mitsukuni smiled and scooted closer to Takashi. "Otou-san and Kaa-san really like Reiko-chan."
"Good," Takashi said as he tapped his knees with his long fingers.
"Chika-chan acted like he didn't care, but I think Reiko-chan made him smile," Mitsukuni giggled.
Takashi nodded again. He still felt heaviness in his chest. He almost felt like crying. He hid his face in his knees so Mitsukuni couldn't see him.
"Takashi," Mitsukuni scooted next to him. He put his hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"
Takashi shook his head silently saying he didn't want to talk about it. He squeezed his knees tighter.
"I'm sorry, Takashi," the smaller cousin said barely above a whisper. There was silence for a while. "Do you want to hold Usa-chan?"
Takashi reached one hand out keeping his head against his knees. Mitsukuni put the pink stuffed rabbit in his hand. Takashi pulled the animal close to his chest. It felt a little comforting. As he sat there in silence holding the pink rabbit, his cousin still holding his shoulder, Takashi felt the tightness in his throat getting worse and a burning sensation in his eyes. He didn't realize the tears had started to fall until he felt Mitsukuni's arms wrap around his shoulders.
"I'm s-so s-sorry, Takashi," Mitsukuni wailed into his cousin's shoulder.
"It hurts, Mitsukuni," Takashi said through his tears. "You lied to me."
He raised his head and Mitsukuni sat back tears streaming down his face, too. Takashi shook his head and handed Usa-chan back.
"I think you should go home," Takashi said quietly wiping his eyes. "I'll see you at school on Monday."
Mitsukuni's bottom lip trembled as his big brown eyes welled up with fresh tears. Takashi stood and walked to the door. The smaller cousin followed whimpering. Takashi didn't walk him to the door. He just watched as Mitsukuni walked past his father who had been standing just outside the room during the whole conversation.
"Takashi," Akira began seeing his son's tear stained face.
Takashi shook his head and turned away from his father. He went to his room and closed the door. The heaviness was still in his chest. He laid on his bed face down. He hid his face in a pillow and breathed deeply. Piyo and the tanuki crawled up on the bed with him. They curled up on either side of his waist. He just laid there trying to calm his breathing and racing mind.
Takashi jumped when he felt a hand rubbing his back. He hadn't heard his mother come in. She sat on the edge of the bed and continued to calmly rub his back. Takashi turned his head to the side to look at his mother. He hadn't realized how much she looked like Mitsukuni. Being a former Haninozuka she has soft blonde hair and bright brown eyes. She looked down at him and gave him a soft smile. He groaned.
"Your father told me what happened," she said quietly. "You know Mitsukuni-kun didn't mean any harm."
"He lied to me," Takashi said. "That's what hurts the most." He hid his face in the pillow again.
"Oh, sweetheart he was only trying to help. You help him with everything and he just wanted to make sure you were happy."
Takashi spoke into the pillow, "Why did he think I was unhappy in the first place?"
"I don't know," his mother paused and then changed the subject. "Did you learn anything about the girl?"
Takashi turned his head to look at her again, "She practices muay thai."
"Oh, well that's something," she smiled. "Anything else?"
"She went to Mitsukuni for help with this project," Takashi said averting his eyes. "Otou-san told me."
"Ah, so Mitsukuni-kun has been involved since the beginning," she continued to rub his back.
"I think I met her sometime before or during high school," Takashi continued.
"What makes you say that?"
"The picture I got today was taken in a classroom at Ouran in the high school section."
"Well, why don't you look at everything she's given you. Maybe you can figure out who she is," she leaned down and kissed her son's cheek.
"Maybe."
"Dinner is ready whenever you want to come join us, okay?" she stood and Takashi instantly missed her hand on his back.
He nodded and watched his mother leave his room. He took a deep breath and flipped onto his back making both Piyo and the tanuki jump. He sighed and thought about looking through all the pictures like his mother suggested. He sat up and wiped his sore and still slightly wet eyes. He walked to his desk and pulled out the folders from the top drawer. He emptied them and put them in order. He put the ones of him in one line and the ones with the clues in a line below. Before he could start really looking at them his stomach growled loudly. He stepped back and sighed. He hadn't eaten anything since breakfast.
Takashi made his way to the dining room where his family was already seated and eating. When he entered the room his mother, father, and brother looked up at him. Satoshi was the first to speak.
"Hey Taka-nii," he greeted with a smile.
Takashi nodded and took his seat at the table. His family went back to eating. He ate quietly while observing his family. He listened to his mother speaking to his father. She asked about his day and he countered by asking about her day. She went into a long story about meeting up with her girlfriends. Takashi noticed his father acknowledged her story every once in a while with a well-placed "mhmm" or an "is that so." Takashi felt a light tug on his lips, he knew that within the next couple of minutes his mother would ask "are you even listening to me?" It was the same every time she told a story at the dinner table. He knew his father really did listen, he just wasn't particularly interested, especially when she talked about her friends.
Takashi had asked his father about that once a few years ago. He had asked his father, "why don't you like her friends?"
To which, Akira replied, "It's not that I don't like them. It's that they don't like me."
"Why wouldn't they like you? You make her happy," Takashi countered.
"Sometimes I feel guilty, having fallen in love with your mother," Akira's eyes had softened at that line. When he looked back up at his son he looked sad, "She could have chosen anyone."
Takashi had never seen this side of his father, "But she chose you, Otou-san."
His father smiled brightly at that, "She did."
Takashi was broken from his trip down memory lane when his father called out to him. Takashi's head snapped up, his eyes going directly to his father.
"I asked you a question," he said cocking his head to the side looking at his son curiously.
"I'm sorry," Takashi composed himself. "What was the question?"
"I asked you if you will make up with Mitsukuni," he repeated.
"I will," he answered.
"When?"
"I don't know."
"Soon, I hope."
"Yes, Sir," Takashi answered knowing his father's tone. He wasn't giving him a choice.
"Satoshi, do you want to attempt Nationals this year?" Akira turned to his younger son.
"Yeah!" he yelled a grin on his face. "Will you let me train with you?"
"Of course," Akira smiled.
"And you, Takashi?"
"Yes."
"You should train with each other then, as well," he said.
And that was the end of dinner. Akira had the final word. He rose from the table, followed shortly by his wife. Takashi let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding in. Satoshi looked at him.
"What's wrong, Taka-nii?" he asked. "You and Mitsukuni get in a fight or something?"
"Yeah," he answered shortly.
"What about?"
"It's not your business, Satoshi."
Satoshi pouted a little and turned back to his food. He grumbled a little before speaking again.
"What do you think of Mitsukuni's girlfriend?" he asked. "Yasuchika thinks she's creepy."
"She's a good person and she makes Mitsukuni happy," Takashi answered finishing his food. He stood and left the room. He wanted to look at the pictures again. On his way back to his room he went past his parents' bedroom. From which he could hear them having an argument. Takashi found this highly unusual. He knew he shouldn't listen but they were starting to become loud and it was hard for him not to hear.
"Don't be so hard on him, Akira," his mother sighed.
"He's nineteen, Hiromi. He walked out of that room looking like a four year old with tears running down his face," his father answered.
Takashi's heart sank hearing those words from his father. He had tried so hard not to cry and he was embarrassed, but it was worse knowing his father thought him weak.
"Mitsukuni hurt him," his mother started.
"That is no excuse," Akira shot back.
"If my brother had lied to you, you wouldn't take it so lightly," Hiromi raised her voice at him. "It is no different."
"He showed no control," Akira started but was cut off by his angry wife.
"So he let himself show emotion for once, so what?! He's your son, and he's hurting. And all you worry about is that he cried? What is wrong with you Akira?!" she screamed.
Takashi left the hallway knowing that soon she or his father would come storming out of the room. He shut his bedroom door quietly and went to the bathroom. He removed his contacts, washed his face, and brushed his teeth. He found his glasses on his nightstand and put them on.
Sitting at his desk he looked over the photographs. He kept his focus on the ones with clues. The first one had the clues written on her nails but he wanted to look closer at the picture. Maybe there was something else hidden. Her clothing was professional; a black skirt that stopped just above her knees and a light blue sleeveless blouse. He couldn't find anything unusual about her clothing or stance in the photograph. He moved on to the next one, the foot. He assumed it was her foot and now that he knew she practiced muay thai, the picture made sense. He scanned his eyes over the most recent photograph. The desk with the little dragons was what he needed to figure out. The word for dragon in Japanese is "ryo." He tried to think of any way the mythical animal was related to someone he knew. That's when he had an idea.
Takashi opened his laptop and searched "Chinese New Year." He wanted to see the years the dragon represented. That wasn't it. The only year within the age bracket he was looking for was 1988, and before that was 1976. He groaned. He had high hopes for that idea until he realized his sign was the dragon. He was almost certain this was a girl he went to school with but he knew she wasn't in the same class, let alone the same year. Mitsukuni had mentioned at first sight that she was older. If he had met her in high school she couldn't have been more than two years his senior.
He couldn't think about it anymore. He had such a long day and it was time to get some much needed rest. Takashi shut down his laptop, turned off the lamp on his desk, and got himself situated in bed. That night he dreamed of many things he had forgotten.
